This new report by the RSA considers that future state support for industries threatened by coronavirus would need to be better targeted and take into account the additional risk to jobs from automation, which is being introduced faster in several sectors in response to the pandemic.
The RSA Future Work Programme aims to secure good work for all in an age of technological upheaval. The pandemic and economic crisis that has followed only adds urgency to this mission. Covid-19 not only looks likely to create ‘a tsunami of job losses’ in industries that are unable to turn a profit but, alongside this bleak economic outlook, there are also signs the pandemic could rapidly accelerate the pace of technological change. This report explores how these forces could interact to fundamentally reshape the labour market.
The report proposes a transition service for workers at risk of Covid-19 and automation. Under this, the government would introduce a programme that redeploys the most at-risk workers into sectors that are more resilient. It would be modelled on Swedish Job Security Councils (JSC). These workers could then be provided with a transitional basic income to support them financially as they retrained.